Ep. 49: Funding Equitable Access to the Outdoors

New Mexico became a national leader in providing equitable opportunity to experience the outdoors when the New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund was created in 2019. Now, more than five years later, the impact this program has provided to communities across New Mexico is undeniable. Listen in as Jesse Deubel speaks with Karina Armijo, the director of New Mexico's Outdoor Recreation Division. Karina Armijo has 27 years of experience supporting small businesses and events in Northern New Mexico in both the public and private sectors. After receiving a B.S. in Design from the University of Cincinnati, Karina spent time at Los Alamos National Laboratory working in the communications department. She later continued her career in the private sector providing creative and web design services for the tourism and outdoor recreation-related industries. Most recently, she spent eight years with the Town of Taos as the first Director of Marketing and Tourism, developing and managing local and regional programs to support businesses and events throughout the Enchanted Circle. 

Also joining the discussion are Sarah Candelaria and Matthew Monjaras. Matthew is the founder of Impact Outdoors and is no stranger to the Ahi Va Podcast. As a regular guest of the show Matt is always eager to share the work of Impact Outdoors. Their mission is to impact communities through education, conservation, and meaningful outdoor opportunities. In this conversation Matt explains how the NM Outdoor Equity Fund has helped him and Impact Outdoors achieve this mission. 

Sarah Candelaria is the founder and executive director of Nature Ninos New Mexico. Nature Niños' mission is to expand access to the outdoors, share all it has to offer, and invite youth and families who might not readily access the outdoors into a safe, and welcoming community where they build skills and grow the next generation of conservationists, land stewards, and recreationalists. They provide an entry point to the outdoors for all who find themselves with any form of "nature nerves." They provide safe, and welcoming spaces to invite youth and families to make their own connections and memories with nature. Their goal is to introduce and encourage all New Mexicans, of all ages, to explore and enjoy our lands and waters safely and freely. They invest time introducing youth to their eco-identity through the visual arts, music, theater, spoken word and other mediums while encouraging their creativity and personal expression. Nature Ninos expands access to the outdoors, shares all it has to offer, and builds skills to grow the next generation of conservationists, land stewards, and recreationalists. Sarah and Nature Ninos have also received support from the NM Outdoor Equity fund. Tune in to learn how those resources have helped improve the lives of young people from communities all across New Mexico. Enjoy the listen!

For more info: 
New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division
Nature Ninos New Mexico
Impact Outdoors
NMWF

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Ayiba listeners, Welcome back to another really exciting episode
of the show. Jesse Dubel here, executive director of the
New Mexico Wildlife Federation. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation presents
the Ahiva Podcast, and I've got three fantastic guests on
the program today and we're going to be talking about

(00:20):
the Outdoor Equity Fund. We're going to be talking about
a program that exists in the state of New Mexico.
It was the first funding program of its kind ever
to come into existence in the country, and I'm super
happy about it because back in twenty nineteen, that was
the very first legislative session that I worked as an

(00:40):
employee of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. I started working
with the Federation as a volunteer back in twenty eleven,
working at the Roundhouse and trying to get important legislation
passed and things like that. But I was hired by
the organization in December of twenty eighteen, and then the
very first legislative session where I was the execus Necative director,

(01:01):
we worked with a state legislator, Adelas Crusis Representative on
Helca Rubio, who carried a bill to create the Office
of Outdoor Recreation. As part of that office, we have
an Outdoor Equity Fund. So here with us today to
talk about that fund is Karina Army host. So, Karina,
you want to introduce yourself and tell us a little
bit about the fund and your role with the agency.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Sure, thanks for having me, Karen Armio, and I'm the
director of the Outdoor Recreation Division for the state and
the division it's a division of the Economic Development Department,
which is a little different than some other state outdoorc
offices that sit under Tourism or other different state offices.
And what makes that interesting is that the mission of

(01:45):
increasing equitable access to the outdoors for all New Mexican
and that's creating jobs as well as getting youth outside.
So yeah, so what's really fantastic is based on the
history of this the Outdoor Equity Fund is really what
was the reason why the division was created in the

(02:07):
first place, which at the time there were only eight
state offices of outdoor wreck in the country, so we
were kind of that first chapter of creation. Six years
into it, we're looking at twenty four different states that
now have outdoor rec offices, and that outdoor Equity Fund
was created as a grant program designed to increase access

(02:28):
to the outdoors for youth, particularly those from low income
and rule or marginalized communities. And that's in the legislation,
which is super important because we identify that we have
this great outdoors, but there was a disconnect between the
people who were born and raised here and true access
to a lot of the outdoors because I think for
a long time there had been more of like a

(02:49):
tourism related I come from the tourism background, so I
know that outdoor recreation has always been something that we
touched for the state, but the missing link was what
about our residents?

Speaker 3 (03:02):
What about our youth?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
So that's been a fantastic program. We've introduced eighty four
thousand youth to the outdoors and awarded six point five
million dollars with two about two hundred and eighty four grants.
That's super significant. Really excited to keep moving on that
particular program, and I can talk about some of the

(03:23):
other programs as well.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
If you like outdoor recreation, sure, oh.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
I'm sorry, great, but yeah, I'd like to get into
some of those programs for sure. But I'll let you continue.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Okay, The second big program is the Outdoor Recreation Trails
Plus grant program, and that really helps these communities to
build trails outdoor recreation infrastructure, whether it's maintenance, maintaining trails,
building trails, wildlife corridors, outdoor outdoor education areas for youth,

(03:59):
lots of different types of the plus and Trails Plus
really extends what this means, and that one also has
been super successful. Since twenty twenty, we've awarded twenty six
point four million dollars to that program, and this past
year with the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund and special appropriations,

(04:20):
just in one year we're getting ready to wrap up
eleven point four million dollars. So there's a big need
in the state to really support outdoor creation infrastructure, and
this is great in line with also promoting youth in
the outdoors, so we're kind of doing both things, getting

(04:41):
youth outside and developing in the infrastructure for all communities
and economic development and so forth.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Well, that's fantastic, Greena, thank you so much for that background.
One of the things that super exciting is I think
the way that you and I first met, i'd worked
with actually not us who had your position prior to
you joining the agency. She was the very first person,
I think, to have that role, and so Axie and
I had built a strong working relationship and I'm really

(05:10):
fortunate that now she's with the Wilderness Society, so we
continue to work together in a different capacity. But I
had heard your name and I was super excited to
meet you. And then one time I was fly fishing
with Nick Strike from the Taos Fly Shop, a really
close friend of mine, and we're coming down the Rio
Grand and then we stopped at a parking lot and
there you were, fly rod in hand, and it's just

(05:30):
it's so encouraging when you're working with people who walk
the walk, so to speak, people who are really engaged
in the kind of things that they're promoting, the kind
of activities that they're encouraging others to get involved with.
So that always inspires me. And your program and your
funding has done some incredible things for the New Mexico
Wildlife Federation, but also for some other organizations, and with

(05:53):
us today we also have Sarah Candelaria, who's the executive
director of Nature Nino's and Matthew Monhatas who's the founder
and president of Impact Outdoors. So maybe we'll start with you, sir.
I'd like to hear your experience with the Outdoor Equity
Fund and what that funding has done for your program
and for the kids who benefit from being a member

(06:13):
or a partner of Nature Nenos.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
Yeah. Thanks, Jessie, I appreciate it. Yeah.

Speaker 5 (06:19):
I think that the Outdoor Equity funds here in the
state of New Mexico is something that we talk about
a lot, not only within our active programming, but we're
trying our best to make sure that our community understands
what kind of support it's given to us as well.
So not just as an organization are we reaping the
benefits of this funding, right, but we're trying to get

(06:41):
the larger community to really grasp the fact that New
Mexico is a leader in this and that they've been
able to identify a way to make sustainable change in
making sure that all youth, no matter their background, no
matter their experience level, no matter their access to gear,
their access to transportation, their access to mentors that are

(07:06):
allowed that can help guide them in outdoor spaces, no
matter where they're coming from. They have organizations similar to
Nature Ninos and similar to that of Matts all across
the state that are working so hard to make sure
that there's equitable change happening, and for Nature Genios, that's
been a huge difference for our organization and we can

(07:29):
take it way back and you know, we can laugh
about the fact that Nature Genius was born out of
a New Mexico Wildlife Federation. That's when we started getting
outdoor equity funding when we were just a program within
another organization.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
And being able to.

Speaker 5 (07:41):
Have that sustainable funding year to year it has allows
us to plan ahead, right. It allows us to make
sure that we have organizational infrastructure so that we're not
just staying where we are, but we're able to listen

(08:02):
to the needs of the community and adjust programming as
we see fit, making sure that we're doing the best
that we can to provide that sustainable change and to
provide the necessary change for each space that we're working in, right,

(08:22):
like space driven work and not just offering the same
type of outdoor programming all across the state and across
all communities. Each community is different, each group of kids
is different, each school we work with is different, and
having that funding allows us to really make sure that
our programming is created and tailored for each group that

(08:44):
we work with.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, thank you, Sarah. And you know, I obviously am
intricately familiar with nature and NEOs and the programming and
the benefits that you provide to communities across the state.
But can you spend just a moment talking about some
of your programs, some of the things that nature Neenos
actually does out in the field with youth. Again, I've
been fortunate to participate in a lot of these, so

(09:06):
I've seen it and it's so inspiring to me and encouraging,
and I've witnessed firsthand the difference that you're making in
the lives of children. But I bet there's some of
our listeners who are not exactly sure all of the things,
And of course we don't be able to talk about
all of it because you do so much. But some
of the things that nature Neenos does with youth around

(09:26):
New Mexico.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
Yeah, sure.

Speaker 5 (09:28):
So in short, of course, our mission is to be
sure that all youth have the ability to spend time
in meaningful ways in outdoor spaces. But that looks very
different for us. We have two branches of service really.
One is our community driven work, where we're working with
multi generational opportunities and the community where families together can

(09:50):
come and sign up for phishing clinics or hiking clinics
or camping clinics or anything together, right, creating that opportunity
for family bonding and a real space for generations beyond
our youth to come back and find skills that may
have been lost from their parents and so on so forth. Right, Like,

(10:14):
we know that generational change has to happen, and it
can't just be with the kids. If we're reaching the kids,
that's great, but we need to reach the adults that
are in their lives as well, and that's done through
our community driven work. The other branch of service that
we have is in school programming and what sets us aside.
A lot of people will identify Nature Ninos as an

(10:36):
environmental ed organization, and while I don't mind that, that's okay,
What our main focus is is the social emotional health
and wellbeing of the youth that we're engaging and making
sure that they're able to find that inner peace while
spending time outside and making connections in outdoor spaces. And

(10:56):
that looks different for every kid that we work with.
That looks different, like I said, for every school that
we engage with and when we're in our school programming,
another thing that sets us aside is you'll always hear
me talking about the fact that we're.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
Not a field trip.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
We don't come in and work with a group of
kids and say, great, this was a wonderful fishing clinic.

Speaker 4 (11:16):
See you again next year.

Speaker 5 (11:19):
We require our school partners to allow us to see
the same group of kids a minimum of six times
in a semester, meaning twelve times in a school year,
really hoping that those kids that when we get them,
a lot of those kids are a phrase that we've
coined as nature nervous, right, they don't know how to
spend time outside and just plopping them in one time

(11:39):
and pulling them right back out does no good for
sustainable change. And so what we're doing is allowing them
to see the same staff, the same mentors on a
regular basis, building these relationships with the same kids, making
sure that we not only are providing outdoor space for them,
but we're providing an adult in their life that they

(12:01):
can look up to, somebody that they feel comfortable talking to.
And we see that change throughout the school year with
our school programming, and you know, the kids that show
up on day one and they're like, this is horrible,
Like you're gonna put me outside and I have to
put sunscreen on and bug spray and there's dirt and
my white shoes are gonna get dirty. They're gonna get creased, right, Like,

(12:24):
that's like the biggest fear of most of the seventh
graders we work with is creased shoes. And then by
the end of the year they're like, hey, you know,
miss we we know we're supposed to do this today,
but can we just like take our shoes off and
like put our feet in the mud and sit by
the river. And while most programs will be like, hey,
well the curriculum is this, this and this, that is

(12:46):
not our main goal.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
You're finding peace outside.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
You're finding time to socialize productively with your friends while
digging your feet in the mud by all means, like
or climbing a tree. Absolutely, Like we will allow for
what we say is emergent curriculum, right, So we may
plan something, but if the kids are able to take
it a different direction and that's what they need for
the day to be happy, healthy and feel full and

(13:12):
you know, well in life, then that's what we're going
to be able to do for them. And the underlining,
of course, is that nature is part of it. We're
typically engaging with kids that live ten minutes from the
basket and have never been.

Speaker 4 (13:27):
They don't know what that means.

Speaker 5 (13:29):
They don't know what it means to be by the river,
they don't know what it means to take care of
a space for future generations. And so we're interweaving those
environmental ed topics, but it's not the main goal. The
main goal is we want these kids to breathe. We
want to see their anxiety go away. We want to
see them off of electronic devices. We want to see

(13:51):
them talking to their friends or encouraging their friends to
take the next branch in that tree, and like, that's
just such a beautiful experience. A guy once told me,
maybe you can tell me who this guy was, Jesse
that it's super important for kids these days to learn
how to be comfortable being uncomfortable, right, And so it's

(14:13):
a topic that we talk a lot about too, that
we often engage with these kids that are uncomfortable and
they're so used to having all these things in life
to make them comfortable, and we have to turn around
and say no, it's okay, Like you're growing when you're uncomfortable.
It's good to be uncomfortable for a little bit, right
as long as you have an adult next to you
that you trust, a mentor that you've built a relationship with,

(14:37):
then we can take those extra steps in the outdoors
and you can grow in your experiences. And we see
that year after year now that we've been engaging with
kids on a regular basis, the same groups now as
they've been sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, and now
they're ninth grade, they're like doing cool stuff. They're like
want to go on camping trips now, and they want
to go backpacking, and they're exploring career pathways the outdoors,

(15:00):
which were able to help them with as well. So
I probably talked longer than you wanted. But that's what
you get for giving me an open ended question. So
I'll hand it right back to you, Jesse.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
No, that was fantastic, Sarah. I you know, I'm not
sure who said kids need to be comfortable being uncomfortable,
but he must have been a super smart guy.

Speaker 5 (15:16):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like his name might have
started with a jam.

Speaker 4 (15:20):
Not quite sure. I just like met him in passing
one time.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
You know that's funny, you know, I like that term
that you used, nature nervous. I hadn't heard that before.
But I remember we had a group of kids, you
and I and Laura Flors we were together with in
the hemis with a pretty large group of kids. In
the first night that we got there, there was a
young lady she might have been ten, eleven years old
something like that, and she had like a complete meltdown.

Speaker 4 (15:43):
Yeah, she was twelve.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
She was just like I was. So I'm not that
great with kids to be proud of. The honest, I
a little uncomfortable. I don't know what to do. She's
crying for her mom or her mom's not there, so
I'm like, Sarah, you better come over here. You got
a problem. And I mean it was it was really
impressive to watch the transformation of her approach, her attitude,
her level of comfort over the course of the next

(16:06):
few days as we did all kinds of cool things.
I mean, we called in a herd of elk if
you remember, for the kids to watch and look at.
And then the second emotional breakdown that occurred on that trip,
I think is when you lost your favorite fishing lure
on the bottom of.

Speaker 6 (16:20):
That.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
But that was a really that was a really important
illustration of seeing the transformation for me of how a
child day one is very nature nervous and by day
three they don't want to go home.

Speaker 5 (16:36):
Yeah, I thought what I was going to say, I
thought you were going to say. The next emotional breakdown
was the fact that that same young lady did not
want to leave on day three. Right, she was like,
but can we just call our parents and ask them
if we can stay one more day?

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (16:49):
So you're right, transformation is pretty incredible.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah, it's powerful. And so it's we're so fortunate that
we have a dedicated source of funding like the office.
I'm like, it's provided by the Outdoor Equity Fund and
the Office of Outdoor Recreation to be able to provide
these experiences for our young people. And also, you know,
I should say, Kareema, you did an amazing job this
legislative session in organizing Outdoor Recreation Day at the Roundhouse,

(17:14):
and Sarah you m sed that event. And I was
at the Roundhouse. I practically lived there because of the
various things that the Wildlife Federation was working on. But
that was a very powerful event. One of the people
who was there and who spent a lot of time
at the Roundhouse this session as well is Matthew mohattis
who I'm going to go to next. And I'm fortunate
that in the next I guess two weeks from now, Matt,
I'm going to be with you down in Glenwood and

(17:36):
we're going to be teaching a whole bunch of kiddos
and some veterans had a turkey hunt, right.

Speaker 6 (17:41):
Yeah, it's actually building to be quite an incredible event.
We've involved the Glenwood Hatchery and so it's going to
be the tale of two tales. We're focusing on two
conservation success stories within the HeLa and so we're going
to be looking at at the tale of the turkey

(18:01):
and the tale of the Heela trout and also the
transformation of what will become the original Glynnwood Hatchery strand.
And so for the first time, the hatchery is going
to open up its doors to the public for all
of our participants, families, veterans, youth to come through on

(18:22):
Saturday for hatchery tours and for fishing. And on Friday
night you'll be speaking Jesse just about your connection to
the HeLa. And then we'll also have some turkey habitat
biologists too are there. We're going to have some professional callers,
a gentleman from the Department of Game and Fish, mister Wheeler.

(18:46):
He will be there doing a bunch of calling and
turkey habitat and like tactics. And we're trying to provide
a community engagement for Friday Night that brings the public
in to try to bridge the gap not only between
like the hatchery and the community, but making these resources

(19:07):
available to the youth of Caturing County. And so we're
trying to have him understand turkey, have him understand trout,
have them understand how special it is to have these
resources in their own backyards.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
And we're really excited to have you down there, Jesse. Well,
I'm excited to be there, Matt, and super thrilled with
all the things you're doing with the program. Impact Outdoors
is just such a phenomenal outreach program for people who
are newer to the outdoors and not just kids. You know,
I've got a good friend, as you know, Matt, who's
a UFC fighter and we work out together at the

(19:41):
gym and everything, and he recently expressed interest in getting
into hunting, and he's not from New Mexico originally, and
of course your program took him out on a waterfowl
hunt and now he's absolutely addicted to the outdoors. And yesterday,
I guess it was yesterday or day before, I got
a text message. You were on the text message chat
a so and he was asking if the duck hunting

(20:04):
waiters that he has are going to be too noisy
for hunting turkeys because he's going to be with us
on this event, and you mentioned I didn't respond, but
you said you were going to give him a call,
So I'm sure you cleared up the gear requirements for
the turkey hunt. But it illustrates the barriers to entry
and these things that so many of us love, things
that we take for granted. I mean, I grew up hunting.

(20:26):
I was just fortunate that I have a father. I
had a father who was super into it and started
taking me since I was a little kid. But if
you don't have that, how do people come into this activity,
And how do you build a connection with these places,
these wild natural places, and build a connection so strong
that you're willing to spend your time and your money

(20:47):
advocating to protect them and also advocating to introduce them
to other people. So you want to talk just a
little bit about that, Matt, and maybe also talk about
the work you've done with Joel, because I think that's
another really inspiring story that you might have shared on
the podcast one time before, but I think it'd be
great to hear it again if you'd like to share it.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
Yeah, the locations that impact outdoors frequenc is, you know,
sometimes there's like occasions like what we're starting to do
with Sevietta, where where you know, I never really had
like that strong connection per se to Sevietta, but I
always had a very close tie to the river and

(21:28):
it's importance growing up. And the locations that we choose
generally are places that I hold really dear to my heart.
And unfortunately the majority of these locations are really biodiverse marshland,
and a lot of our marshland. In fact, they say
ninety five percent of our habitat in the middle Rio

(21:50):
Grand Valley is is gone now and that we only
have five percent remaining. And so the changes that I see,
whether it's in the Middle Rio Grand Valley or if
it's the marshland that we recently were donated out in
Santa Rosa threst Lagunas. We recognize when fisheries are failing,

(22:10):
we recognize when our waterways have had years of drought
and carbon killoff. And to see these places that I
have frequented for the last twenty three years, twenty five years,
thirty years, to see devastating change occur in these locations
over three to five years, it makes me concern that

(22:34):
my own children will not frequent these locations. And so
the sites that we have picked throughout New Mexico generally
our locations that I would deem as a conservation failure,
and through the involvement of the schools, our local schools,
whether it's our land grant communities or our Title I districts,

(22:55):
we try to involve youth into those locations so that
they can work firsthand on habitat improvements. They can work
on data collection and citizen monitoring and start to understand why,
you know, that year their peppers didn't grow with the
the Esecio water that was coming down after Hermit's Peak,

(23:16):
or trying to understand, you know, why we have issues
with habitat loss and dredging that occurs in the river
like north of Elephant. But and so we take those
kids outside and we get them involved in their environment,
and we found that if they fall in love with
the resources in their backyards, then they begin to campaign

(23:37):
for the resources. And a lot of the places that
we find these conservation failures in we find a direct
link to the fact that they are having less and
less attendance from our young people. And so you might
say that like the locations or the passions, so you know,
where we provide education are directly tied to what has

(24:02):
turned me into an educator and a conservationist today is
seeing those locations and seeing less and less of them.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
Yeah, thank you for that, Matt. One thing I'd like
to highlight here because I think it's really important, is
that obviously, Impact Outdoors has been a recipient of funding
from the Outdoor Equity Fund. Nature Neenios has been recipient
of funding from the Outdoor Equity Fund. The New Mexico
Wildlife Federation has been a recipient of this funding. And
the reason I mentioned that is because it's important for

(24:34):
people who are listening to this to recognize that the
amount of funding that exists is not adequate to fund
every single organization that has a need. That's just the
reality of grant funding today. But we don't look at
each other as competitors, right, We're all partners trying to
accomplish amazing work and improve the lives of people across

(24:56):
our state. And so what we've done and what we
did this last legislative session is work together to build
a bigger pie, right, rather than us competing to try
to get a bigger piece of the existing pie. Instead,
all of us were at the roundhouse this session working
to try to build more funding for the program so
that more great work can be done. So, Koreina, do

(25:18):
you want to provide just a little explanation of kind
of how the legislative session went, some of the priorities
that you had, kind of a I guess a reaction
to the way everything concluded at the end of the session.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Sure, I can talk about the Outdo Equity Fund because
I love the powerhouse behind it, with all these organizations
that get together that are you don't see it very
often a lot of things, and I get people calling
me from different states saying, how did you get so
much money or how are you doing this? And I said, well, honestly,

(25:52):
it's all of you. It's all of the organizations throughout
the state that are calling me saying, we think this
is important.

Speaker 3 (25:59):
How can we help you, how can we support you?

Speaker 2 (26:01):
And it's it's really amazing to see how many you know,
organizations are deciding okay. I honestly think that that's how
we got the fund to begin with, because all of
you guys mobilize together and to continue that every year
we hear from all of you. We try to we
try to get everybody together a couple of times a

(26:23):
year and just get feedback on how we can make
the program better. Try to be really open about funding
gaps that we have. And if there's a gap, that's
you know, that rings pretty loudly for all of you,
and you guys decide, okay, we're going to get together.

Speaker 3 (26:37):
We're going to make this work.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
So really it's it's a lot of you and and
again we don't see that very often with a lot
of different industries. The nonprofit organizational world that that really
benefits from the Outdoor Equity Fund has just has been amazing.
So they were lobbying to get funding. You know, the

(27:00):
governor's budget did have quite a bit of funding allocated,
but uh, the legislator funding actually had more. So right
now we're waiting for the for the budget to be
signed at three million dollars for Outdoor Equity Fund with
additional million dollars of combination of the Land of Enchantment

(27:21):
Legacy Fund and our Equity Fund, so they'll be close
to four million dollars next year. That's really important because
the year that we had some federal funding to see
what the demand was, it was it was amazing that
we were able to get the money out the door
and and really support all these organizations. So the demand

(27:42):
is there, and the all the folks behind it, they're
just I mean, they're writing letters, they're on these podcasts,
they're constantly calling. It's really quite fantastic to see. And
also relative to what you were saying about the barriers

(28:05):
to entry not just for youth but for adults as well,
I think that's really important the work that we're doing
to help that. For example, the Outdoor Academy is one
of the Outdoor Equity Fund recipients up north in the
Tas area, and when Nick Straight who owns the fly Shop,
called me and said there's an event that you all

(28:27):
sponsored called the fish Upon.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
It's a two day event.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
We'd like to see if you want a partner with
one of the girls from the Outdoor Academy program, fifteen
year old girl. And I'd never done a fish Upon before,
relatively new to fly fishing the last couple of years,
and I signed up and did it. And it was
amazing to see a fifteen year old girl who had
gone through the program and not just the one and

(28:51):
done like you were saying, Sarah. But I think it
was a ten week program and this was towards the
end where she was learning how to be a fly
fishing guide, and her confidence level was amazing to watch.
And she said something to me on that we had
such a great time. I think we came in fourth,
which was really fantastic. But the end of the second

(29:14):
day she said, I never thought that adults would listen
to what I.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Have to say.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
And I loved hearing that because her, you know, at
fifteen years old, she had something to offer, she had
more confidence than she had going into it, and she
was teaching me things. And so as an adult, I
didn't grow up with being in the outdoors. New Mexico
was introduced to me thirty years ago as an early

(29:41):
twenties and I'm an immigrant, so I have a lot
of that background that's very similar to a lot of
the folks here in New Mexico.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
So it was really beautiful.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
And interesting to see not just breaking down the barriers
to entry for her, but also for myself.

Speaker 3 (29:57):
So yeah, those type of.

Speaker 2 (30:00):
Stories, one of like hundreds of stories, is another reason
why I.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
Think it's such a beautiful.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Fund program initiative to get behind because it really touches
so many different people, communities and reasons to be outside
for yeah, for us.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
So yeah, thank you, Kreen. And you know, it's it's
really hard sometimes to measure the actual impact that all
of these engagements with people are having. You know, there's
a lot of testimonials, there's a lot of specific examples
that I could provide of things that I've seen and
things that I've witnessed. But right now, you know, we're

(30:38):
facing one of the greatest threats I've ever seen in
my lifetime against the future of public lands in this country.
And you know, there are some elected officials at the
federal level who think that to balance the budget, it
would be a good idea to sell off these assets,
the public lands. And you know, the six hundred and
forty million acres of public land that exist in this

(30:58):
country is the single largest concentration of unappropriated wealth on
the entire planet. So it's clear to see why there
are folks who would like to sell them. But it's
these engagements, these introductions to the outdoors, these introductions to
the places where wild animals exist and habitat, provides opportunities

(31:21):
for wildlife to thrive and for humans to go and
interact with that wildlife. That's what builds the army of
conservationists who will contact the elected officials and say, look,
that's not an option. Selling off our public land simply
is not the answer, and we're not going to stand
for it. And so all of these individual stories, you know,
when you compile them together, what we're really doing is

(31:45):
protecting the future of public lands, the future of public waters,
the future of public wildlife for generations to come. And
you know, what we have here in North America is
unique in the world. There's no other place that I'm
aware of. Canada has crown lands, and there's some different
variations of public lands that exist around the world. But

(32:05):
what we have here is completely unique, and it's one
of the most amazing things. And I honestly can't imagine
my life without public lands being a central part of it.
And so I want to thank you Koreina and the
work that you do and the funding that you provide
for helping us as conservation professionals build that team of

(32:28):
advocates to ensure that these places exist for our kids
and their kids and their kids.

Speaker 2 (32:33):
Yeah, and it's nonpartisan. That's the biggest thing for me.
So so many people from across the spectrum that love
these public lands and for so many different reasons. So
I'm you know, it's disheartening right now when hearing what's
going on, but I think that all of us can

(32:53):
keep speaking up and talking about those stories. Yeah, because
the day is mainly storytelling. I mean, we'll have some
we're working on some data actually right now, because we're
in our sixth year of the Outdoor Equity Fund to
see how is it really impacting children in different ways
the data driven folks, but nothing compares to the stories

(33:16):
that you hear from from all of the kiddos and
and the people working with the with the youth. So
we'll see, we'll see what happens.

Speaker 1 (33:25):
Yeah. The other thing that's that's really encouraging to me,
and something that that I've been a beneficiary of, if
you will, is the relationships that are forged throughout these
different activities and these different events. Matt. I can remember
Gosha must have been two years ago, Matt, that you
hosted a Turkey workshop. Basically what it was is we

(33:49):
had a group of kids and their parents to do
a lot of habitat improvement work on a private property
that you have a relationship with the owner. And this
was an eastern New Mexico and we went out there
and did habitat work for a period of time, and
then after all of the hard work was done, we
took the kids out to engage in an actual Turkey hunt.

(34:09):
And on that trip you'd invited a student from Highlands University,
if I remember right, who was a Turkey biologist. This
student was trying to get a job with the federal
government at that time as a biologist, and she did
an amazing job of educating these young people who were
at this event about all of the habitat needs of

(34:31):
the Turkey, about all of I mean, anything to do
with wild turkeys. This biologist was just spectacular, and we
built a really great relationship over the course of that event.
And then February fourteenth of this year, that individual who
was now working for the Carson National Forest was informed
that she no longer had a job with the agency,

(34:52):
you know, as a result of this mass firing event
that occurred across the country. And it was really it
was really neat to see the community rally around her
and provide her with just tremendous amount of support and encouragement.
And that was all a result of this event that

(35:13):
you put together, mat So those are the relationships that
are formed when we do these kind of outdoor engagements.

Speaker 6 (35:20):
Yeah, actually, she's she's one of my mentors and I
truly look up to her there and the biologists that
we had that day. She's got a special connection to
that land. Her her mother is just an incredible, incredible
woman who has done ranching and different things in and

(35:43):
out of the Pecos Valley. And that relationship actually led
to us working there in the Anton Chico Schools and
so we go into the school at least once a year.
Our primary education opportunity with them is kind of their
outdoor which is tiger Rama. This year, we're going to

(36:03):
be teaching kids about turkeys and riparian zones and also
just how the Pecos through their community is it's conducive
or that the habitat supports two different types of turkey
that we have here in New Mexico, about the Miriams
and the Rio Grand turkey, and so we're going to

(36:24):
do a session with them. It's from kinder through eighth
grade and for tiger Rama, but that relationship has also
led to some other leading community members getting involved in
the program. Estella was there at the Roundhouse with us
this year at the legislative session. Her son spoke about

(36:44):
impact outdoors and about habitat improvement. And I've personally seen
both of her boys. They both work on a ranch
right down Highway eighty four, not far from that property,
and so seeing their work ethic and the way that
they can put up they put up fence around one
of our monitoring classroom sites better than any adult that

(37:06):
was present there. But to have them return to that
same property to do a turkey hunt with us, and
then also to speak at the legislative session about what
impacts done for their life, it's crazy how one open
door with a landowner will lead you to mentors and
direction and relationship and involvement with your community. So with us,

(37:29):
we say relationships are everything.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
I love that, Matt.

Speaker 5 (37:32):
I just want to chime into for a second and
take it back to kind of combine a little bit
about what Jesse mentioned and a little bit about what
Karna was talking about too, and just elevate the nonprofit
world here in New Mexico. I work with a lot
of partners across the country and collaborative curriculum building and
policy work and just kind of deep diving into how

(37:55):
nature Ninos is formatted, and I share stories to what
you're talking about, Matt, and.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
What Karina and Jesse have mentioned.

Speaker 5 (38:03):
About, you know, the collaborative work, making sure that we're
not siloed, making sure that we're not competing for funding,
rather grant writing together, making sure that we're serving the
whole child, the whole community, and not looking to necessarily
have our name at the top of a project, rather
share that line item with all the partners that want

(38:26):
to come on to support those youth that in that arena.

Speaker 4 (38:31):
And what I'm finding is it's very unique New Mexico.

Speaker 5 (38:36):
We do that, we do it well, and it doesn't
happen across the country all the time either, and so
I just wanted to elevate that for the space that
we're working in that.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
It can happen.

Speaker 5 (38:49):
So if you're listening to this and you're out of
New Mexico, or you're listening to this and you're a
nonprofit in New Mexico and wants to get plugged in
like that type of community, it works. And so the
more that we can show that it works, the more
that it could happen across the country as well. Because
funding like outdoor equity, while it helps organizations, it's obviously

(39:13):
not the only funding pot that we have to make
our organization run. And when we can be open and
honest with our partners about the projects we're working on,
about our mission and our deliverables, then we're able to
see the bigger picture, right And I feel like that's
incredibly important to be transparent with the partners in our

(39:34):
community to make sure that we're not overseeing a way
for us to fiscally work together to make a bigger
difference in the community rather than just trying to do
it on our own.

Speaker 6 (39:46):
Yeah, I think about that all the time. Also that
if I think about all the relationships that have been built,
if we think about all the habitat that has been
enhanced or improved, or how many kids have done those
activities and stuff, and I, you know, I think to myself, man,
like we're moving mountains like with impact. But then I

(40:08):
look at how many other programs are receiving this funding,
and I have to think, like, Okay, well, if we've
done this much for Guadalupe County, then what has Sarah
done in berno Leo? You know, what what are folks
doing down in Las Crusis Like, there's just it. It's
pretty incredible what this has opened up for outdoor opportunities

(40:31):
for the whole state.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
It's hard to it's really even hard to comprehend the
impact that this has had over the course of the
last six years and the impact that it's going to
continue to have. And some of the recipients, some of
the youth recipients who benefited from the funding that our
organizations have received six years ago are now volunteering as mentors, right,

(40:53):
I mean they were twelve years old then now they're
eighteen years old. They're able to vote. The experiences that
they've had in influences their level of advocacy and legislative
work and policy work. But also now they're taking people
out and giving them the kind of experiences that they received.
So it's cumulative the funding. I mean, it's not a

(41:14):
grant cycle that you get the money and then the
money runs out and then you're into the next grant cycle.
The benefits from that first cycle are still occurring right
now today, six years after those initial checks went out.
So that's that's something to be really really proud of. Karna.

Speaker 4 (41:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
The other thing what I've seen too is some of
these organizations being inspired by the programming from all these
different nonprofits and saying, you know, how can we get
creative and look at youth and the outdoors so and
how can we fill some of the needs that we have,
like we need more river raft guides and we're tired

(41:53):
of bringing them in from different states and they don't
really understand the story of the of the region. So
they're looking at an outdoor Equity Fund program funded program
to be able to say, Okay, maybe we can figure
out how to teach local kids how to be the
next generation of our workforce specifically, so some of those

(42:17):
ideas people come to me and say, you know, we
have this great idea. So it's both inspirational for it's
just a success on so many different levels, celebrating what
has been accomplished and looking to the future of what
is inspiring organizations to create new programming for youth.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
And I'm going to just provide a little testimonial about
the Trails Plus grant because this is not having that grant.
If that grant hadn't existed, I'm not sure what the
result of this particular project would have been. But because
of Trails Plus, the public in New Mexico can celebrate
public access to the largest state wildlife management area in

(42:59):
all of New Mexico. That's the Marquees Wildlife Management Area.
And a couple of years ago, Marquez was a very
very small wildlife management area almost I mean it was
so small I'd never even visited it because there wasn't
a lot to attract me to go there. But then
a property adjacent to it, actually two properties became available
for sale. It was the Elbar Ranch and the Upper

(43:21):
Fernandez Elbar Ranch. They were both owned by the same owner.
It was a gentleman from the state of Texas who
owned this huge property over fifty five thousand acres, and
it was for sale on the open market. It was
just listed with a realtor, and I looked into it,
and we built a coalition and decided, man, this would
make an amazing addition to this state wildlife management area

(43:42):
if we could purchase this property, and it was over
thirty four million dollars, so it was a big purchase.
But if we can purchase this fifty five thousand acres
and add it to the Marquees Wildlife Management Area, then
we're going to have something incredibly special. The third largest
wildlife management area in the entire country. And the habitat
for pronghorn and for elk and for mule deer, I

(44:03):
mean wild turkeys. It's just spectacular. And so we worked
on this project and we got it done. We got
the property purchased, but there was a major access challenge.
In order to get to the property, you had to
go across a private road that went across a private
ranch and did not have a public access easement. So
the landowner was not required to provide public access across

(44:26):
this private road. And so we got into negotiations with
the landowner, Is there a way that you'll agree to
make this a public road even though it's your private
road currently? Could we make it a public road? And
what would that take? And I won't get into all
the details for the sake of time, but he said,
if you do the following, and it included a whole
bunch of work and a lot of installation of signage

(44:46):
and different things, he said, then I will provide you
with a permanent public access agreement across that road so
the public can always have guaranteed access to this wildlife
management area. So we had the volunteers. I could easily
organize fifty p people to get together to do the work.
But what we didn't have is the financial resources to
purchase the materials that were needed, particularly the signage. And

(45:09):
that's where Trails plus came in. We applied for a
Trails Plus grant and explained the situation and said, if
we had this money, we could do this thing. And
if we did this thing, we're going to have permanent
public access to this unbelievable wildlife management area. And Trails
Plus awarded us the money and it was just such
a beautiful success story and so I'm so thrilled that

(45:32):
it worked out the way that it did, and I'm
also just really I guess curious what the result would
have been had Trails Plus not existed, had that grant
program not existed, I'm not sure what the outcome of
that project would have been. So that's just one example
of how people in New Mexico are benefiting from the

(45:53):
programs you're running CAREA, and most of them don't even
know it. I mean, probably ninety five percent of people
who visit the mart Ki's Wildlife Management Area and they
have to use that road that's the only way to
get there. I would bet that at least ninety five
percent of people don't realize that they're benefiting as they
go out to that place, that they're benefiting from the
Trails Plus grad. So that's pretty cool too.

Speaker 2 (46:15):
Yeah, I think outdoor acrifind gets so much love and attention.

Speaker 3 (46:20):
Trails Plus is sort of like the Quiet the quiet.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
One, but it still gets you know, it does a
lot of it's super impactful. The project that you're talking
about is actually very similar to many projects across the state.

Speaker 3 (46:32):
When you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (46:33):
Private, public, nonprofit, all these people getting together and we
love to see those type of projects because we know
that it's important that it means that the whole community
is really supporting, whether it's opening up.

Speaker 3 (46:47):
Access or.

Speaker 2 (46:49):
Building you know, new parking lot to accommodate big families
or restrooms or things like that, and even stuff that
you don't think about again, kind of like the quiet
stuff that happens. We funded the Enchanted Circle Trails Association.
What they were finding was that they needed more people

(47:11):
to be able to volunteers to maintain a lot of
the trails throughout the Enchanted Circle. So we funded them
to expand on the Adopted Trail program and I think
they signed up close to thirty different organizations that now
have their designated trail, took them out, show them what
to do, and to me, those little things are hugely

(47:34):
impactful because then you have a real connection between community
and what it takes to maintain trails and have real
ownership to your public lands.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
So it's not just building the.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Trails or having new access to trails or to wilderness,
but also the connection of people again, which I think
is really wonderful. So hopefully Trails Plus will continue to
grow and we would love to be able to have
more stories that we can talk about with the trials
plus program awardees or grantees.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
Yeah, thanks Kreida, And I'm I'm gonna ask you a question,
and I'm also going to later ask to Matt and
to Sarah, But do you have any asks of our listeners?
Is there anything that our listeners can do to support you,
to support the programs that you run, to support the
funds that you administer. Is there is there anything you
would ask of the fans of this show?

Speaker 2 (48:27):
Well, I think right now, with the timing of the
public lands, I think what I would ask listeners is
to go to our website and I'm outside dot com
and take a look at we have this one area.
It's a grant database where you can see a map
of all of the different programs that we funded across
the state. We're trying really hard to get to all

(48:47):
the rural communities and the tribal communities, and of course
the urban communities are are.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
A lot easier.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
But to be able to talk to your community and say, hey,
I've always we've always wanted, we've always talked about doing this,
and there's this funding available. So really understanding the funding
that is available and having those conversations as well as
because of what's going on with public lands, understanding that
a lot of these a lot of these programs are

(49:14):
either you're participating in public lands or you're product providing
support to public lands, and knowing that if these public
lands are in jeopardy, that it's a big deal and
that all voices should be heard whatever whatever that looks like.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
So I think that's important.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
Just understanding our programs, getting the word out if you
if you see an opportunity, and then secondly understand the
connection to public lands.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
That's fantastic. How about you, Sarah, if if you could
ask something of our listeners how they can support nature
Denials or your work, what would what would your request be?

Speaker 5 (49:54):
So I think that, well, I'm going to take it
back just a quick little notch and that is Nature
and Enos was awarded our first Trails Plus grant this
year as well. And with that Trails plus grant, we
are going to need and we consistently need, but in
a higher level for the next six months, are going
to need a lot of volunteers and so you know,

(50:14):
it doesn't always take money to make a nonprofit run
successfully right Oftentimes it can be just coming and donating
your time to make a project that much better.

Speaker 4 (50:26):
And so going to our.

Speaker 5 (50:28):
Website www dot natunenios dot org you can sign up
to be a volunteer with us potentially help us work
on our Trails Plus project and or potentially work with
any of our year round programming that directly serves youth.

Speaker 4 (50:45):
So I think that would probably be my biggest ask.

Speaker 5 (50:49):
The next ask is really more on a personal level,
and that is if you've got a neighbor or a friend,
or someone that you know of that may identify as
that nature nervous person and you're not invite them outside right,
help be that person that helps make that connection. Because

(51:12):
we can put all of our nonprofits together in the
entire state and still not reach everyone. So it then
becomes a community action ask to be that person that
steps in and says, this is something I really love
to do and i'd really love to introduce you to it.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
Well, those are great asks, Sarah. Would you be able
or willing to talk about your Trails Plus grant, what
it's for, what you're going to be doing, what's that
work look like.

Speaker 5 (51:40):
Yeah, I can keep it super brief too. We were
awarded USDA Forest Service grant as a subawardy through Green
Latinos to do some tree planting work in the South
Valley with some of our amazing school partners at our
FK Middle and High School as well as Mark Armijo Academy.

(52:03):
And with that funding, those YCC crews are going to
be elevated into career pathway opportunities and be able to
lead some tree distribution and informational clinics in the community.
And then the Trails Plus grant is then taking those
tree planting initiatives and turning them into usable spaces, so

(52:25):
we'll then be adding in picnic tables and walking paths
and things that really ignite those spaces to be welcoming
to the community and not just random trees in a
random place.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
Right.

Speaker 5 (52:38):
The really cool thing is that every step along the way,
the youth that we engage with with are being elevated.

Speaker 4 (52:46):
To be the leaders on this project.

Speaker 5 (52:49):
So the YCC crews will be leading those tree care
clinics alongside our amazing partners that we've come together to
train those YCC crews all the way to the Trails
Plus side. We just realize that instead of buying picnic tables.
One of our community schools has a carpentry class, and

(53:12):
so we're going to be buying raw materials and those
kids will then be making the picnic tables that are
going into those spaces. Again, not just community action, but
when you have that community action, you also get that
community buy in and you get the ability to make
those projects sustainable in a community because people care about them.

Speaker 4 (53:34):
Right.

Speaker 5 (53:35):
So it's not like extreme home makeover where we're just
going to come in and do all this amazing work.
We're going to really ignite the community to have them
be part of the work as well, because when you
are vested, you care about the long term.

Speaker 4 (53:49):
Output of that project. So that's in short, what we're doing.

Speaker 5 (53:53):
Pretty excited to get working on it here over the
next year, Sarah.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
I felt like that was a personal dig on me because.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
Before I was Rache Oh Yes, over.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
Home edition, because I did one of those back in
two thousand.

Speaker 4 (54:11):
I had no clue. I had no clue. I don't
do dig my personality.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
Come on, that's funny. That's just funny that he says
it's not an extreme home makeover anyway. I did one
of those in two thousand and six for the Martinez
family years ago in a different lifetime. That was funny though,
that but great explanation, and that that idea of community
involvement and building the picnic tables is super awesome. I
mean it because not only are you contributing to the

(54:42):
growth and the knowledge and the education of those kids
who are working on the project, but just the sense
of pride. You know, you imagine a kid that builds
that table, and that table gets installed and then ten
years later.

Speaker 5 (54:52):
You know, and you know they're going to be tagging
it on the I'm sure tagging is not the right word,
but we're going to flip those tables over and let
them would burn their names into it and own it
right like that's beautiful. That's a lot of hard work,
and for teenagers that don't have oftentimes don't have a
direction of where they want to go. It's one of

(55:12):
our underlining goals as well is to just make sure
that those kids feel like they have a place right
and having a place often means having mentors you can
look up to, having the experiences you've never had before,
and hopefully guiding them into a career pathway that has
something to do with the outdoors. And I leave it
vague like that on purpose, right, because there are so

(55:33):
many different opportunities to make a career in outdoors that
we don't want to narrow that. At the same time,
we want to say, here are all of our amazing
partners that we're working with. Let us introduce you to
all of them, and hopefully each kid will find one
that they really resonate with and we can kind of
funnel them in that direction and help guide them in

(55:54):
their next journey.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
Yeah. Very cool. Well, Matt, I got to ask you
the same question man that I've asked career and Sarah.
Now Impact Outdoors has been on the show before, of course,
so a lot of our listeners are familiar with with
your program and with your work. But what would you
request of our listeners to do to be able to
support you in your great work.

Speaker 6 (56:14):
Well, I'd like to answer that. I'd also like to
say one thing or two things real quick that have
kind of been I've been thinking about. So Karina, you
talked about, you know, maybe working to bring in funding
to have like rafting guides that are in love with
the Rio Grand Box and making that available, and I
wanted you to know also that you know that need

(56:37):
is there and we're seeing it because right now with impact,
when our youth are working with professionals in the field
on these volunteer engagements, they're finding that there are other
people that are passionate about the resources they're falling in
love with, that have found a career in their community,
which then improves our retention rates. And so like, the

(57:02):
need for that type of funding is already there because
it's already like something that has at least with our program,
grown with the availability of the Outdoor Equity Fund. And
as a sidebar to that, it's also allowed for departments
to create better opportunities within their department, whether or not

(57:25):
they recognize it. Every year, you know, we do stuff
for Fish and Wildlife. Every year. We do stuff for
the Department of Game and Fish. We do the youth
sand Hill Crane Hunt every year. We do like this
hatchery tour down there in Glenwood that Christopher Morris has
really been pushing with Laurelly, and they got everything planned

(57:46):
and you know, to have to have Laurelly, you know, say,
we've never had this opportunity for this type of engagement
for education around the Heela trout here in this community,
and at the same time have Christopher campaigning to have
so much involvement from the community. If we didn't have
that funding, you know, we wouldn't be looking at two

(58:09):
hundred youth and families coming out on a Friday night
to learn about Turkey. And we certainly wouldn't have the
bridge that gaps this incredible programming going on at the
Hatchery to something that's accessible to everyone around the state
as well as Catching County. And so I think Outdoor
Equity Fund is provided. You know, even folks who don't

(58:32):
campaign for Outdoor Equity Fund have benefited from Outdoor Equity Fund,
whether or not they know it, you know, through our
programming or through our education, or our days at Bosque
del Apache or at Sevieta or at Bernardo. I just
I wanted to say that that, you know, Outdoor Equity
Fund is creating bridges. And so if I was going

(58:55):
to ask anybody for something that they could do to
support my program, I would say that continue to want
to be involved, continue to work on our retention numbers,
to see families or to see you know, a veteran
come through the program which is separately funded. But like
that's something I would love to see is like if

(59:17):
we could do something with Outdoor Equity Fund and like
availability to the outdoors specific for you know, veterans or
different things like that. But the thing that I would
mainly ask is continue to talk about our success stories,
continue to visit the legislative session when we have these
opportunities like let people know what it's doing to make

(59:41):
a difference. And and and as for all of our
volunteers that continue to show up or put these things
together or talk to community leaders, just keep keep doing
what you're doing, and your support is making a huge difference.

Speaker 1 (59:57):
You know, Matt, you were talking about the indirect benefits
of the Outdo Equity Fund to the general public. And
one thing I can't help but think, because you know,
I have hunting on the brain most of the time,
especially now that we're five days from the opening of
turkey season, which is my favorite hunting season of all
spring turkeys, I have to say that the work that

(01:00:18):
you do, the work that Sarah does, and the work
the other organizations who receive money from the Outdorequity Fund do,
that work has made a huge, huge impact on the
perception of hunting by the non hunting public, and I
don't know if I'll be able to do a very
good job of articulating this, but I'm going to do
my best. You know, I've seen Sarah host archery clinics

(01:00:39):
all across the state and fishing clinics all across the state,
and I've seen you, Matt with your programs that hunting
is a component of it, but there's so much habitat work,
and there's so much education about the biology of the animal,
and there's so much love and appreciation for the wildlife
itself that what's happened as we do this work is

(01:01:00):
people realize that hunting is not some kind of blood sport.
It's not something that you're out to just kill something,
and it's like this inhumane and evil, negative thing, and
it's really starting to transform the hearts and minds of
people all across the state. And we saw that this
past legislative session with the passage of Senate Bill five,

(01:01:21):
which had the largest coalition I've ever seen working together
on a single piece of legislation. And that coalition, I've
mentioned it on this podcast numerous times, but included groups
like Animal Protection Voters of New Mexico, and the New
Mexico Houndsman Association, you know, Sierra Club and Backcountry Hunters
and Anglers, Defenders of Wildlife and Ducks Unlimited, the New

(01:01:42):
Mexico Wildlife Federation and wild Earth Guardians and those are
just to name a few like and this group work
together so cohesively, so respectfully, so appreciative of one another
in our differences of opinion on certain things. And now
we're planning a big celebration because of course that bill
passed and the governor signed it mostly and so now

(01:02:04):
we're planning this huge celebration. And to think that we're
going to be in some kind of a venue with
all of these diverse organizations celebrating together, building relationships together,
being part of the same community, that's something you just
don't see very often across the country. And I honestly believe,
and I don't think I'm exaggerating here, I honestly believe

(01:02:27):
that a lot of that is a result of the
work being done with funding from the Outdoor Equity Fund
because it funds all these different things, and people can
go bird watching and hunters can love that. We're so
appreciative of people who are out looking at birds. But
for the first time in a long time, I'm witnessing
people who don't hunt looking at it with a greater

(01:02:50):
level of respect and appreciation. And so I commend to
all of you who are doing this amazing work, those
on this program and those listening. I just mend all
of you for doing such a wonderful job of helping
to change the perception of the thing that I love
so much, which is which is hunting.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
Jesse, thank you too for everything. See you out there
at the at the Roundhouse this past session and doing
this podcast I think is really truly important. And the
division and the fund has only been around six years,
still relatively new, and we see this impact that you're

(01:03:29):
talking about. I can't wait for another six ten years
to see what happens with all these little ones that
are going to be in our seats in the future.
So thank you and Sarah and Matthew as well.

Speaker 1 (01:03:44):
Well. Thank you Karina, and thank you for taking so
much time to be on the show today. I know
you're very, very busy, but I appreciate you taking the
time to share some of the stories and some of
the importance of this work with our listeners. And I
encourage all the listeners you know you heard each of
the quests from our guests as to what you can
do to help support their work, so please do that,

(01:04:06):
and if you have any other questions, I'm going to
give you all an opportunity one more time just to
let people know where they can find you, and then
we'll then we'll wrap it up and you can all
get back to the great work that you're so regularly doing.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
I'll go yeah, and nmoutside dot com. Take a look
at all the programs are listed there. Get it's inspired
by wanting to apply for a grant. Trails Plus will
open July one for the next round of for fiscal
year twenty six and Outdoor Equity.

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
Fund will open June first.

Speaker 2 (01:04:38):
And we're small but mighty team, but reach out if
you have any questions.

Speaker 4 (01:04:44):
Thanks Greena. I'll go next.

Speaker 5 (01:04:46):
So you can find nature Ninos at natureninos dot org
or you can email me directly.

Speaker 4 (01:04:52):
At Sarah s A r a H at natureaninos dot org.

Speaker 6 (01:04:57):
You can find Impact Outdoors on Facebook, Instagram. You can
message me on there or you know any of our
You can also email me at Matthew dash Manhattis at
Impact Outdoors dot com. But really it's pretty easy to
get a hold of us on on social media, and

(01:05:19):
that unless we're at a service and chasing the gobble.

Speaker 1 (01:05:23):
I love it. Well, good luck this season, Matt. I'm
super excited to see you in a couple of weeks.
Before I do that, though, I've got to shoot out
to Oklahoma and look for more l mushrooms and maybe
catch a few paddlefish. Then we'll teach some people how
to turkey hunt. And thank you all for spending some
time on the show today and sharing your fantastic work.
It's such an honor and a privilege to be able

(01:05:44):
to call you all teammates and partners and conservation and
look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Speaker 4 (01:05:49):
Thanks Jessie, thank you, Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:05:52):
Thanks for listening to the Yahiva podcast produced by Drift
with Outdoors Bundle and